I just don't. Not only is my coop really not equipped for one and chicks, I just don't trust them to do the job when I need chicks. With sanitizing my eggs, I never have any explode. I've even forgotten the bag of quitters/clears I removed on lockdown on the basement counter for two weeks, and none even smelled.
I like hatching in the incubator and giving the chicks to broodies, it gives me more control over the process. They do a much better job caring for the chicks than I ever could.
Original it was thought differential heating necessitated rotating the egg and the may still be the case with still air incubators. Force air incubator reduce the problem but uneven heating may still play a role in many incubator designs. I have spent a considerable amount of time evaluating incubator designs for that very reason.
That is awful, I have experience the usual mix of early and late quitters, but nothing so graphic as you.
Honestly chickens do it best, but incubators offer more flexibility with hatch date and such. Also I really enjoy incubating.
Then giving a broody incubator chicks is the best of both worlds! I had one hen that was sitting on eggs last year. Right at hatch, one bad egg exploded and killed 3 of the 9 chicks that were hatching. The remaining 6 hatched, but 2 more of them eventually died. I think from contamination from the bad egg. I gave 5 incubator chicks that hatched the week before to the broody after I cleaned everything up and while her remaining eggs were still hatching. The incubator babies didn't accept her at first, but the little chicks showed the older ones how to use her for warmth and they accepted the hen. It made my life a LOT easier.
That is interesting. Some of the newer studies use fake eggs containing data logger that record the angle, degree of rotation and frequency eggs are turned. Chickens know best for natural incubation, but artificial incubation may be another story.
